"Smile with Jesus" by Robert Fairley

My picture of Jesus laughing is in fact a picture of myself. I believe that the notion of painting oneself as Jesus is according to Biblical teaching - after all, if we are all made in God's image, why not? This positioning was also practised by many of the great masters painting in their own image as that of Christ. When I had finished this painting I showed it to one of my classes and asked for comment. An eight year old student said: "Something's missing — but I can fix it!" He picked up a blue crayon and wrote "smile" in an arc over the top. My moment of panic at the prospect of seeing three week's work ruined turned to relief, then pleasure that the child understood.